


A Dancing Prism

by HWGA



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Crime, Friendship, Multi, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-18 02:03:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5893915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HWGA/pseuds/HWGA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last few days of Rachel Amber's life, filled with colorful events that lead up to her disappearance. This is my first and probably the last try at writing anything. The story is NOT an AU, all events are based on dialogue and evidence from the game with VERY minor additions for convenience. I'm also trying to keep the level of depth as close to the game as possible, so looking behind the lines is encouraged. Enjoy the read.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something Good

"Figured you'd be here."    
   
Chloe was sitting on a makeshift bench in her little junkyard sanctuary. It was the first warm Friday of the year - late April was generous on sunlight this time around. The reflections from the yellow wall carpet painted the room in a cozy golden shine, which resonated with occasional puffs of smoke coming out of Chloe's mouth.    
   
Rachel's greeting snapped her out of some kind of deep thought, clearly induced by the lit joint she was holding. The blue haired dreamer gave her friend a short dumb smile as she walked into the room and crashed on the car seat next to her, leaving her handbag beside it.      
   
"Wanna hit?"    
   
Rachel reached out to grab the joint and took a what seemed like a stronger hit than she usually takes, straightened her legs and relaxed her head on the top of the seat, sending the smoke upwards into the air.    
   
"Busy day at Blackwell, huh?" Chloe inquired, clumsily taking what's left of the joint back.    
   
"Sometimes I really want to burn it to the ground... starting with a metric ton of bullshit homework I've yet to do." sighed Rachel, brushing the ash off of her ripped jeans.    
   
"As if **you** do your homework." Chloe noticed with a smirk.    
  
Rachel smiled, "Touche." and reached out for the joint again.    
   
The room was filled with peace. It felt like another world compared to the one the girls have come from. And that was the reason why they came there. They both needed to escape from the everyday mundanity, whether it was a daily fight with the step-douche or preparations for yet another Vortex Club party.    
  
Despite the said fight, Chloe was in a good mood today. She was anticipating something nice, but Rachel couldn't quite read it off of her face. Or didn't want to. Right now all she wanted to care about is the warm sunlight on her plaid button-up shirt and how comfy her seat was.    
   
   
Few minutes of blissful rest later Chloe was already bored.    
   
"We need some music up in here."    
  
She got up from her bench and headed for an old hi-fi in the opposite corner.  
  
"Let's see... Sparklehorse or Hollywood Undead?"    
  
"DJ's choice." Rachel breathed out, lacking enthusiasm. After having to make similar choices for the upcoming Vortex party earlier she just really wanted not to think about it anymore.    
  
As the hi-fi consumed the disc the air filled up with a rocky tune.    
   
"Right sistah, it's time to celebrate!" Chloe announced, moving in flow with the music, "Come on! No rest for the wicked!"    
   
Something about the music clicked well with Rachel's mind. Or was it Chloe's happy voice? She pulled herself out of her seat and started slowly treading towards her friend, movements becoming dance as she went on.    
The two of them met halfway, dancing, not a care in the world. Their faces lightened up brighter than the sun. The grass was doing its work.     
   
"What are we celebrating anyway?" Rachel asked a minute later, still unable to figure out what was this all about.    
  
"What are we celebrating?" Chloe repeated, faking a funny insulted face, "Our first step in our grand plan to leave this shitty town for good!"    
   
"I don't get it." blurted Rachel with uncertainty, even though still smiling wide and trying as hard as she can to not explode in laughter.    
   
Chloe grabbed her around her waist, lifted her up and spun around, "My truck will be ready tonight!"    
   
"You're gonna break your spine you crazyface!" Rachel pleaded, finally giving in to the overwhelming desire to giggle uncontrollably.    
   
The girl quipped back, "Crazyface? That's a **dork** able."  
  
Matching a childish name with a more childish pun, Chloe found it a lot more funny out loud than she did in her mind. As she put Rachel down, the contagious laughter spread to her as well. The girls crashed back on the benches around the wooden "table", trying to recollect themselves.    
A few moments of happy tears later, the rocky tune toned down its solemnity. Rachel made use of a nearby cushion and laid down on the bench. Chloe leaned against the wall on the bench perpendicular to Rachel's and put her feet on that wooden excuse for a table, so that they're kind of face-to-face.    
   
"So how'd you get the shop dudes to repair my truck without paying in advance?" Chloe suddenly wondered.    
   
"I... had help from a friend." Rachel answered without thinking. It came out more mysterious than she liked, so Chloe picked up on that real quick.    
  
"Oooh, does he have a name?" she jokingly inquired.    
  
The blonde sighed, "Chloe..." with a lighthearted 'please don't go there' tone in her voice, which was completely ignored by her friend.    
  
"That's a strange name for a guy. Is he at least handsome?"  
   
Rachel already knew that nothing can stop Chloe's prying other than a complete surrender, which is something she couldn't afford in this case. Not giving the question justice with an answer, she stalled with another sigh, "Here we go again..."    
   
And Chloe just kept on going, "Too late to back off now, do I know him?" She was clearly enjoying herself.    
   
Rachel needed a distraction. Or a redirection. The questioning was getting too close to the point of having to lie, and she really didn't want to lie to her punk companion. Especially because she was acquainted with the friend Rachel was trying to hide.    
Taking advantage of knowing Chloe's witty mind like the back of her hand, she tried to steer the interrogation away from herself.    
  
"You know, I don't ask you about every guy in **your** life..."    
   
"Like I would tell you about them anyway." Chloe interrupted. Her face made a devious smile.  
  
That was easy.    
   
"Wha-hat?" Rachel asked with a chuckle, half-faking surprise in her voice.    
  
Chloe looked away for a moment and playfully replied with a widening grin, "Nuthin'."  
   
Amused with the response, Rachel took the next step, "Are you mocking me, Price?"  
  
The question was met with an impish smirk and a gaze of pure provocation and mischief.    
   
"You're going down!" she exclaimed, launching her cushion towards the blue.    
  
The projectile brushed Chloe's cheek, bounced off the wall and landed beside her bench, making it easy to launch it back or use it as a melee weapon.    
"You dare challenge me to a pillow fight?" she leaned to grab the cushion, "You just made a huge mistake, girl!" and threw it straight back at her opponent only to see it deflected by a swing of another cushion that Rachel grabbed from the car seat while Chloe was busy talking.    
Now, standing up straight Rachel had the upper hand, but the blonde duelist honorably stalled her attack and gave her rival a chance for capitulation, "Surrender!" she exclaimed, holding her cushion ready to strike.    
  
The tune blasting from the hi-fi turned into a sick guitar solo.    
   
"Never!"  
   
With a quick rolling motion towards the other cushion Chloe ended up on her knees right by the opponent's feet with a fluffy weapon in her hands. Somehow that move dodged Rachel's lunge and she was able to score a perfect hit on her friend's left hip. The quick shift of balance caused the blonde's arcing retaliation to swing higher than expected and sent Chloe's beanie flying across the room. Taking advantage of the situation, the punk ninja strategically sent her cushion towards the car seat behind Rachel and nudged her in its direction, "Now **you're** going down!", causing both of them to safely fall on the bag of softness while laughing their asses off. The blonde head fell perfectly on the bottom part of the seat while Chloe's ended up on her friend's freshly exposed abdomen, which was moving erratically due to now loose blue hair tickling the hell out of it.    
   
A few moments of laughing later Chloe realized what her hair was doing and pulled away a bit, "You okay there, Ma-ahhah-Rach?"  
  
Through tears of joy Rachel replied, "Your hair is a torture device!", pretending not to notice the name she tried to hide with a laugh.    
  
The truth is that she didn't care. Or she did care _about Chloe_ , but she also knew very well where her high mind usually goes, and with all the childish activities they've been participating in lately Max was bound to come out in one way or another. What Rachel didn't care about is taking offence to things like this. Besides, disturbing old wounds would only hurt. But even though Max abandoned Chloe, they still had a great deal of happy memories together. It's not something you can forget. It's not something you can replace. There will always be a Max-shaped hole in her heart that Rachel would fail to fill. And she knew that like any memory it will be a part of Chloe for the rest of her life.    
   
"... and I think my foot is stuck in your suspenders."    
  
Chloe kept smiling, "You wish. You'd want me to be stuck on top of you, wouldn'tcha?"    
  
"Hah", Rachel lightly patted her friend's shoulder with the remaining cushion in her left hand and smirked, "Let's not forget who pushed me down in the first place.", pulling her undershirt back down with the other hand to avoid a possible overdose of tickle torture.    
   
"I'll let that one slide this time" she winked and got back on her knees to check on her suspenders.    
  
The spring sun started setting in the distance, adding a pinkish shade to the golden aura of the room. A beam of light reflected from an empty bottle next to the hi-fi and made Chloe catch it with her eyes. She winced and pulled her suspender from under Rachel's foot, now free to stand up and go looking for her lost beanie.    
   
_Bzzzzzt._    
   
The noise came from Rachel's handbag as Chloe almost failed to stand up on the first try. She pulled herself up into the car seat and unzipped her handbag. The phone buzzed again.    
   
[NATHAN: need to talk]  
[NATHAN: come 2 my dorm]    
  
Slightly annoyed, she texted back.    
   
[RACHEL: If you want to talk then come and pick me up.]  
[NATHAN: u still pissed?]  
[NATHAN: whatever]  
[NATHAN: where u at?]  
[RACHEL: Junkyard.]  
[NATHAN: b there in 10]  
  
And that's how Rachel got herself a ride.    
   
She put her phone back into her handbag and zipped it up. Chloe was still looking for her beanie, probably grumbling curses inaudibly in the process for letting herself get hit like that. The sight was amusing.    
  
Rachel lingered on her seat to enjoy it.    
  
"I need to go meet a friend."    
  
"Another secret lover?" Chloe quipped, turning down the hi-fi.    
   
"No, just Nathan."    
   
"Ugh."    
   
"Yeah. Anyway, you don't need me around to get your truck, right?"    
   
"Nope, I got it."    
   
"Cool."  
   
Rachel got up from her seat and headed for the exit. Upon reaching the doorway a thought crossed her mind and she stalled, drawing Chloe's attention.    
  
"Hey... come party with us tomorrow."    
  
"What, with the Vortex snobs?" she turned back to her search for the lost beanie, "Nah, I think I have better things to do with my time."    
  
"Since when does Chloe Price miss out on fun party times?"    
  
Chloe pretended not to hear the question.    
  
"Don't come for them, come for me."    
  
"Well, when you put it _that_ way..."  
  
"Awesome, I'll text you tomorrow. And you better drive up in your fancy truck."    
  
"Mhm." she mumbled, still unable to find her precious headwear.    
  
As Rachel walked through the doorway, she added "I think it flew through the window by the way." A short annoyed groan followed from behind and made her chuckle.    
   
The distant sun turned its color to a blend of pink and purple, causing the sky around it to become a shining net of soft clouds. The blonde put her sunglasses on and headed towards the road.    
 


	2. In My Mind

The main road wasn't far from the junkyard, so Rachel didn't mind a short walk. In fact, she even enjoyed it. The swinging firs, the fresh smell and feel, blue jays singing in the forest, warm breeze caressing her blonde hair... Arcadia Bay is so much more than just some shithole. If you look past the everyday worries and ambitions you can always find something beautiful, something intimate that makes you feel composure.  
The pink sun was high enough to be seen, but also low enough to be partially obscured by the firs. Small beams of rose light still slipped through the battlefield of conifers and the wind, painting the clearings in disco lights. The flora was dancing to the music of fauna, and Rachel was keen enough to notice one of the blue singers sitting on the side of the sun. She swiftly unzipped her handbag and swapped her sunglasses for a cheap looking but trusty DSLR, sat on one knee, held her breath and snapped a picture.  
As she pulled her eye away from the eyepiece, she noticed a familiar red truck appear in the distance. It wasn't new, but it was in a good enough shape for someone like Nathan. After putting her camera back in her bag, Rachel briefly waved at the quickly approaching vehicle, which responded by slowing down until she could fully recognize the orange jacket sitting in the driver seat as well as the prick wearing it.

Rachel's boarding was followed by a somewhat meek "Hey."

"Hi." she greeted with a bit of animosity.

The truck started driving again and an awkward pause ensued. Only it was awkward for Nathan alone, because Rachel had a good reason to act angry and demanding, and her intention was to take as much advantage out of it as possible. Especially because Nathan clearly wanted something from her now.

He took a minute to collect his thoughts and started, "So... I want to spice up tomorrow's party. You know, I'm tired of the usual boring shit. We need something hard this time."

_Is he fucking serious...?_

"What the fuck? Do you still expect me to get you drugs after what you did?" Rachel interrupted, emphasizing on the last part of the sentence. She wanted him to feel guilty.

Nathan attempted to defend himself, "Hey, I tried to explain but you wouldn't fucking listen! Madsen was onto me. He knew too much, he had pictures and shit. He wouldn't stop pressuring me with his righteous crap, and I had to give him something to get him off of my ass."

"And the first solution you came up with was ratting me out to the principal? Do you even realize how fucking stupid that is? You should've come to me instead of acting like a complete idiot and telling everyone about what I do. It doesn't only endanger me. This is a problem for all of us."

" **Okay** , you can stop lecturing me now, I know I fucked up. I was panicking. I wasn't thinking straight."

He paused for a moment. Admitting to his failure didn't seem easy for him. He looked away from the road angrily in an attempt to regain himself.

"But you talked to the principal, so it didn't turn out _that_ bad..."

"No thanks to you." Rachel interrupted again, really twisting that knife in his gut.

"Yeah, what **ever**." he spat back, trying to finally change the subject. Nathan was losing his chill, but still trying noticeably hard to keep calm.

"Anyway... will you help me with the drugs or not?" he said in a milder tone.

_Nathan is acting weird... He knows that I can't get drugs from Frank anymore. He wouldn't normally take so much shit from me either, unless he actually feels guilty about it, which I doubt. He's up to something... I need to see what else he has to say._

Rachel shrugged, "How am I supposed to help? I told you what Frank did at the auto repair shop, he's too dangerous for me to be around him." she gave Nathan the stank eye as she changed to a more hostile tone, "Not that it would matter anyway with Madsen watching my every step now. And I don't know anyone else with connections."

Ignoring the expression, he asked monotonously, "Can't you just "ask" him like you always do?"

"Are you listening?" she lightly slapped Nathan's shoulder with the back of her hand, "I broke up with him, completely. No more free drugs."

He promptly glanced at her and back, pretending to have his full attention on the road, "Then set us up a meeting or something."

_This is going nowhere, he's just stalling and I'm getting nothing out of it. If he really needed the drugs, he'd meet up with Frank himself, I know for fact that he has his number. I might as well just call him out at this point._

Rachel turned her body halfway to the left to try to add weight to her words and spoke clearly, "Nathan, cut the bullshit. You didn't drive all the way out there to ask questions you know the answers to. And you don't need **me** to get in touch with Frank either. How about you tell me what this is really about?"

Rachel's perceptive confrontation left Nathan stunned. He glanced at Rachel again, longer this time, but no words came out. He pulled into the Blackwell parking lot, parked in a spot and shut off the engine.

The sun already hid itself behind the horizon, and all that was left in the sky were its rusty remnants, followed by a greenish aura which turned to azure and slowly faded into the black the farther away you looked from it. The trees around were still battling the wind, too busy to notice the encroaching darkness. And the singing has stopped, but instead came the crickets with their own tune, encouraging other insects to seek refuge by what little light was left at Blackwell - the dim glow of the streetlights.  
Life flourishes even in the darkness. A different life with different rules. Where danger is obscured by safety. Where flying too close to the light burns and seethes, but you keep trying anyway. Like these insects, everybody seeks their light. And in their search they all cast dancing shadows.

After cutting the engine, Nathan was still looking straight past the wheel, distracted by a set of those shadows. It was about to be one of those moments when a friend pours out their soul to you, as Rachel figured. She stopped pushing him with words and just kept looking at him with a face clear of any emotion, giving him a chance to say his piece and leaving the judgements inside her head.

"Listen... I'm sorry for what I did, I fucked up and it could've turned out way worse than it did..." he turned to Rachel and put his hands off the wheel, "I know I betrayed yours and Mark's trust, but I never wanted that. **You** _know_ me. I... it's important to me that..."

Nathan clenched his fists angrily and looked back at the shadows with a silent furious grunt.  
He wasn't angry just at himself for messing things up. He was angry at the world for putting him in that position. But most of all, he was angry because of how weak he seemed and acted that moment. He was a Prescott and it meant something. Every cell of his body fought on two fronts - one to suppress what he saw as weakness, one to demonstrate what he saw as strength.

_This isn't a game anymore. This is how he actually feels... And I worried that he was smart enough to see that I don't trust him in the first place._

Rachel slowly put her palms around Nathan's fist, trying to calm him down.

"Everybody makes mistakes. It's fine... as long as you learn from them." she felt his muscles relax a bit, "I still trust you."

He turned his eyes back to the girl, almost letting himself forget the strong image and crack a smile, but shut it down just in time. Hiding a tone of slight relief, he said "I'm glad you see it this way. But I'm afraid Mark does not."

"He understands." Rachel tried to reassure, but Nathan was already too determined to see it his way. She could feel his fingers tighten again.

"No, he doesn't trust me anymore. He thinks I'm a liability, that I'm just some stupid kid trying to waste his time with petty doodles. He doesn't show it, but I can see it with the way he acts."

Nathan pulled his palm out of Rachel's grasp and put it on her left shoulder.

"Listen, I need to show him that I can still be useful. He needs to see my real photography. Not just the bullshit school projects, I mean the proper dark room level stuff."

"Nathan..."

"Let me finish. I'm not planning to kidnap anyone." he looked straight in her eyes, "I want you to pose for me." He lingered for a moment and added, "Please."

Rachel stalled a bit in an attempt to wrap her mind around the situation a bit better.  
She broke eye contact and looked down, simultaneously putting her right palm against the back of Nathan's right hand, which was still on her shoulder.

"I even have a dose ready. And a perfect scenery in mind. You'll love it."

Rachel said uncertainly, "I can't...", then coming to terms with her conclusions as she said it, added a clear "No."

Nathan's hand slowly slid down the side of the shoulder.

"Why not?" he asked with a strange mix of disappointment, irritation and curiosity.

"Because I'm done flying. I haven't had anything hard since _that_ time, and I intend to keep it that way."

"So much for your 'trust'." he snapped, adding extra disgust to the last word.

_No, you don't get to steer back to your usual unstable self and turn the blame around! I still need you to consider me a friend._

Rachel tried to maintain control, "Don't twist my words! I said I trust you, and I meant it. This has nothing to do with it. You did the right thing by coming to me this time."

"And what was the point? You don't want to help me anyway." Nathan questioned. His motions gave away his desire to leave the truck.

"There's no reason for me to become a druggie again to help you." she grabbed his thigh to regain his full attention, "I'll talk to Mark. I'll make him understand."

"Do you honestly think that he'll listen?"

"I can be very persuasive, **you** of all people should know that. Besides, no harm in trying, right?"

Processing the logic behind Rachel's words has subsided Nathan's rising fury. He nodded and turned around to open the door while the blonde followed his example on her side.  
With an alarming goodbye from the car, they both headed towards the dormitory.

The walk was short and uneventful - the hour wasn't too late, but most students were already spread around their dorm rooms so the streets were empty. As they reached the building, Nathan said his goodbye and broke off at the side entrance, leaving Rachel alone. Instead of heading straight inside, she took the scenic route around the dorm grounds in hopes for an interesting shot.

... but alas, no luck was had on that front.  
However during her search Rachel noticed dry grass beside the school totem and decided it was as good place as any to sit down and relax. She walked over the "fence" and crashed next to the wooden sculpture, crossing her legs and putting her hands behind to support her body.

"Hello, Tobanga..." she half-whispered, "What wisdom do you have for me today?" 

...

She looked over the windows of the dormitory, most of which were lit up with a bright yellow light. A faint tune could be heard coming from one of the rooms. It seems that people were still feeling that Friday night spirit despite the party being scheduled for tomorrow. But Rachel wasn't looking forward to that party. And it wasn't just the fact that she attended so many. It was the obligation to wear a face. Of a friend, of an ambitious model, of a perfect student, _of an accomplice... No. I'm not a part of that._

With a tired sigh that was almost a groan, Rachel breathed out, "Am I playing with fire?"

...

"Maybe I should just run away with Chloe..."

Something moved in the bushes by the rocks, not letting Rachel finish that thought out loud. She froze and slowly pulled her camera from the handbag she left beside the totem. A look through the eyepiece revealed a fluffy object slightly waving from behind the boulder. A tail.  
This was the shot she was looking for. Well... not yet. Rachel uncrossed her legs and ducked forward, supporting her camera with the right knee and the right hand ready to press the shutter button, thus leaving her left hand free. She took a moment to get a good angle - it wasn't easy in this pose - and loudly snapped the fingers of her left hand. The sudden sound caused the squirrel to peak out from behind the rock, letting the young photographer catch the animal in its full glory. Photo op success.  
Satisfied with the shot, she looked at it once again in her camera's display.

_Beautiful._

She put her camera back in her handbag.

"We make a good team, Tobanga."

"Bzzzzt!"

"Whaaaaahh!-..shhhi... _t_ "

_Wow, Rachel, wow. Now the Tobanga is after you. Really?_

The buzz obviously came from the phone in her bag, not a creepy wooden depiction of an ancient pagan god. Though, to be fair, the dark woods around were kinda scary.

 _I can't believe I actually just thought that it spoke to me_ \- Rachel chuckled at herself as she reached for the phone - _Let's see who wanted to scare me so badly._

As the lock screen faded away a neat picture of a truck appeared on the feed.

[CHLOE: CHECK OUT THIS BADBOY]

Before Rachel could start typing an answer, another picture appeared. This time it was a selfie of smirking Chloe dangling the keys on her fingers inside the truck.

[RACHEL: Looks great :D Now don't break it on the first turn ;)]  
[CHLOE: Dude, I'm like the real life Daniel Morales.]

[CHLOE: the gendarmerie's got nothign on me.]  
[RACHEL: Yeah, right.]

[RACHEL: Wait, are you texting while driving?]  
[CHLOE: maybe]  
[RACHEL: I'll talk to you later then, and don't crash. Again. :P]  
[CHLOE: ok mom]

A fresh charge of positivity from her best friend manifested in a lighthearted chuckle. The girl grabbed her bag and headed home.

Room 224 was on the opposite side of the main entrance. It was just a bit wider than most other rooms, and through its two windows had a nice almost unobstructed view of the distant ocean as well as the football court in which the Vortex party was going to take place the next evening.  
The room itself was filled with stuff. Wall posters, magazines, pillows, pictures, books, couple of controllers on the sofa, a garland hanging over the windows. It was home for a few years after all.  
Rachel flipped the light switch and sent her handbag to a short flight towards the azure couch in the middle as she closed the door behind with her foot. The gray wardrobe in the left corner was full of fashionable outfits, but there was an empty hanger for one more. With an agile motion the girl took off her sneakers and the buttoned shirt, then put both in the appropriate compartments. She gazed into the mirror on the adjacent wall and unplugged her long blue feather earrings, leaving them dangling on the side of the glass as she glanced at a poster of a rock concert she went to a few months ago hanging next to it.  
_Good times._  
The blonde sat down opposite from a black medium-sized plasma and put her feet on a small glass coffee table in front of her which still had a couple of magazines on it and a dirty cup. She grabbed her phone again and flipped through the text history in an attempt to remember whether she needed to reply to anyone or not.

[DANA: Thanks for your help. Come chill with me and Lyla at the Two Whales tomorrow.]  
[RACHEL: No probs, but I can't :( I'm taking the extra photography class. Another time?]  
[DANA: Sure.]

[KELLY: Since you weren't around I took the liberty of putting the assignment into your locker.]  
[KELLY: You owe me one btw.]  
[RACHEL: Thank you <3.]

[VICTORIA: STOP MESSING WITH MY PARTY MUSIC]

[JUSTIN: Yo.]  
[JUSTIN: Me and a bunch of friends want to cook up a sick skate montage.]  
[JUSTIN: Wanna be our cameraman?]  
[RACHEL: Hell yeah. Got a plan in mind?]  
[JUSTIN: We're gathering on Sunday at the rail station. 4 PM. You can bring your punk friend.]  
[RACHEL: Deal.]

[ZACHARY: Hey, you're friends with Victoria, right?]  
[RACHEL: We're besties. Why?]  
[ZACHARY: Wondering if she already has a +1 for the party.]  
[RACHEL: Lol, that's cute.]  
[RACHEL: There are no formalities, it's not a prom night. Just ask her.]  
[ZACHARY: Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks.]

After minute of pointless flipping she figured that she was not in the mood to initiate conversations and decided to spend the rest of the evening editing pictures on her laptop, which was conveniently waiting for her on her desk below the left window.  
Rachel lingered on her seat as she noticed the moon rising above the ocean outside. It was a beautiful view, and for some reason it made her feel nostalgic. The girl got up from the couch and casually strolled around her room.  
There were some picture frames on the wide wooden drawer standing on the other side of the sofa with another rock band poster looming over them. The pictures depicted various moments of Rachel's life - Mom and Dad on the observation deck of the U.S. Bank Tower in LA, Chloe sitting by the campfire, herself walking down the street with a skateboard... Chloe and Rachel dancing together by the beach.  
_That was one hell of a party... not being able to recall a thing about that night should be a good proof of that_ \- she smirked.  
The casual stroll took her past the windows to the opposite corner from the drawer - she had some photos hung up around a feathery dreamcatcher above the indigo silken bed. The girl switched on the floor lamp, climbed onto the pillows and sat on her knees with her eyes traveling through the portals on the wall.  
_Chloe looked so different with blonde hair... I didn't get to see much enough of that. I wish that trip lasted forever..._  
She reached over to the hi-fi on a bedside cupboard below the nearby window to turn some dreamy music on, then took some pictures off the wall and laid down on the bed to examine them.  
_This is back from when I posed for Evan... Haha, Chloe and her first bong... Wow, I can't believe I rocked that outfit... Another lighthouse adventure... Hah, she almost broke her ankle trying to do that tre flip... I miss the days when things were so simple..._

The soothing tune caressed her ears as the girl slowly drifted off into the blissful land of the lambs.


	3. Power to Progress

Rachel woke up to the sound of a familiar commotion outside - Saturday mornings at the Prescott Dormitory were usually pretty hectic. It was already bright but the sunrise was on the opposite side of the windows, so a good portion of light in the room came from the lamps the girl left on last evening.  
The blonde lazily sat on her bed, slowly rubbing her eyes. A quick look around provided a frustrating realization that embodied itself in a long defeated sigh.  
_I was supposed to edit the pictures... shit... now I have nothing to present at the photography class..._ \- "Uuuughhhhh..." - _There better be some pictures on my camera that are good enough without editing... but first I need a shower._  
Her muscles were aching from sleeping in a weird position. Not without effort she got up and almost tripped on her fluffy beige carpet, then sloppily grabbed some clothes, a towel and some bathroom accessories from the drawer and headed to the hall, almost forgetting to wear flip flops on her way out.  
Rachel Dawn Amber was not a morning person.

The door to the room across from hers was open and for some reason she figured she needed to check on the person living in it.  


Kelly Davis was a somewhat nerdy senior student at Blackwell and mostly focused on science and related subjects. She was an average height girl with thin physique, a bit pale with long red hair and some barely noticeable freckles on her face. It was one of those rare cases of absolute neutrality - the girl was neither loved nor hated by any of the cliques and never had problems interacting with any of them whenever she wanted. She was just quietly doing her thing and followed her mysterious interests away from the general craze. Rachel respected her for that, but never pried. She was in a good relationship with her but they weren't close, though the same can be said about almost anyone that knew her.

With a bunch of stuff still in one hand Rachel leaned on the door frame and muttered in her weak morning voice, "Hey Kelly."

The girl's orange hair looked radiant in the morning sunlight. She was sitting on her bed with a notebook on her lap, probably watching something funny on the internet. As she heard Rachel's greeting she half-closed the laptop and responded with a smile, "Hey zombie. What's up?"

"Not much, just checkin'... How are you doing?"

"Good. Have you seen the latest HAWP video? Ashley is so hilarious."

"No, I don't kn..." said Rachel yawning, "Do you have the assignment papers by the way?"

"Uhm... Didn't I text you about them yesterday?" she reached for her phone, "They should be in your locker"

"Oh right, yea." the blonde quickly responded, "I forgot. Sorry."  
After taking a short pause to rub her eyes, she pointed her free thumb towards the showers, "Well I'll...", and unable to finish the sentence with her half-awake mind lazily pushed back from the door frame to start moving in that direction.

"Hey, wait." Kelly called out, closing her laptop completely.

Rachel smoothly swung back, "Mmmmh?"

"I need... one of your... favors." she said with uncertainty, hoping that the blonde understands her implication.

"Ah... Well... I'm not in a position to give favors any more...", as Rachel yawned again she caught a glimpse of disappointment on Kelly's face, "...but I owe you, so... ask me again when I'm back from class..."

"I will. Thank you."

"Mhm..."

Most people in the dorms were already up and about, some still in their rooms, some spread throughout Arcadia Bay. Rachel wasn't sure what time it was yet, but judging from the sun it shouldn't have been too late to make it to Mr. Jefferson's extracurricular photography class. She really didn't want to hurry though, because in the mornings her give-a-fuck meter was at its lowest point. And because she could afford it, at least this time.

Rubbing her eyes, the girl entered the bathroom only to be surprised by an unexpected greeting from another blonde.

"Oh, it's _you_." said a bitchy voice, "And I thought some bum wandered into our dorms for a free shower."

As Rachel slowly walked into the first open stall, she tiredly sighed, "Vic, fuck off."  
Then added "Not in the mood." as she closed the curtain.

Victoria pressed on anyway, "Um, you think I'm gonna let you brush me off like that? I know you're trying to whore your way into Mark's pants..."

Rachel couldn't hold a sneerful snicker.

"... which doesn't surprise me at all by the way, your pictures are shit, no wonder you have to resort to being a slut."

The girl in the shower was busy undressing and hanging things and didn't really pay attention, which only pissed Victoria off.

"Anyway, keep your filthy hands off. Mark has better things to care about than wasting time on whores like you."

The blonde frowned angrily as she noticed a weak fist with _the finger_ sticking out from behind the curtain moments before it hid back and the water turned on.

"Bitch!"  
Somehow somewhere some _why_ she had a black marker. The vengeful girl drew "RACHEL IS A WHORE" on the wall, then cranked the water on the sinks and even slammed the door on her way out for good measure.  
Luckily Rachel saw that coming and turned off her shower before the temperature became uncomfortable.  
"And that's Victoria, everyone." she muttered to herself - _At least her lapdogs weren't here. Though I wonder who even gave her the idea about me and Mark._  
  
  
After a refreshing shower and some snacks from the vending machine Rachel looked through the pictures on her camera and figured they'd have to do. Her main interest was mostly in modeling, not taking pictures herself. So instead of spending what little time she had left editing she just went for the looks.  
Her choice of clothes for today consisted of bright beige ripped jeans, black undershirt with red and white writings, a shirt with a mix of many brown colors and yesterday's sneakers. It was nearing 10 AM, so the girl headed out to the main academy building for her class.

Mr. Jefferson's classes were especially popular among the students, many of which have come to Blackwell mostly because of him. He was running an extracurricular photography project, mainly themed around Arcadia Bay's nature. Students that chose to be a part of it would receive benefits in his regular lessons, but future photographers attended regardless - they were in for the knowledge. Among other attendees were Nathan, Evan, Daniel and of course, Victoria.  
The class itself was different from the usual lectures - every two weeks the students presented their works, talked about the process of creation and received input from others as well as Mark Jefferson himself.  
Nothing was out of the ordinary in today's case - the class went on as usual, discussions were had, laughs, passive-aggressive quips from Victoria and Nathan, typical light school atmosphere. The only difference was the length, since some people still had to work on party preparations as the short haired blonde briskly pointed out. Not particularly happy with this, Jefferson had to cut the lesson short - it wasn't mandatory after all.  
Rachel had other plans though. As most of the class was packing to leave she simply sat still on her chair and was noticed by Nathan on his way out. He gave her a short stare and tilted his head in Mr. Jefferson's direction.  
She slightly motioned her hand towards the exit in response - _Way ahead of you..._

The teacher stalled his packing while the rest of the class left. He had other plans as well, but seeing Rachel stay in her place spared him from having to tell her to wait in front of everyone.  
As the door shut behind the last student, his face expressed surprise and amusement.

"Hmmm..." he pleasantly murmured, "How is it that you always know what to say or do?"

Mark was slowly approaching the girl as the words came out. Rachel responded with a light mysterious smile, still sitting at her desk unmoved but keeping her gaze on the taller man. Once he came close enough she softly grasped his elbow, stood up on tiptoe and reached upwards with her other hand, giving him a passionate french kiss with a playful bite on his lip as they pulled away.

If such simple terms were applicable to a peculiar personality like Mark's, Rachel would've thought that he was in a good mood.

"I wanted to talk to you about tonight." he started with a soft amused voice, but then noticed something interesting about this situation and paused. The girl was standing below, she was quite a bit shorter and the way she looked back at him was... exquisite.

"Hm. You know, I still shiver when I think back to our first session."  
He held her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.  
"That rage, that _fury_ in your eyes... The contrast from the moment you woke up..."  
Closing his eyes he tried to go back in time as the memories seemed to delight him greatly. His tone partially turned into a whisper, "Those raw, pure emotions... There's _power_ in you. It's almost... supernatural."  
Mark opened his eyes again, meeting the girl's gaze with admiration.  
"And yet you're still able to... _deliver_ innocence even in the most mundane of times. All through such a simple look... Hold on."  
He swiftly went back to grab his camera, motioning Rachel to wait, then took a few pictures from a couple of different angles. She was not a professional model yet, but she had some experience posing for people, though right now not much posing was needed since Jefferson already had what he wanted.

"It still surprises me how many opportunities were opened by that idiot's mistake."  
He looked through fresh images in his camera's display, "To think what mess it would be if someone else woke up in your place that night..."  
Mark was not oblivious to a glimpse of fear that quickly ran through Rachel's eyes.

"Did someone else..."

"No." He lingered before proceeding to reassure, "You're special. You share my vision... well, most of it anyway."  
"No one else was any closer than you before."

Rachel wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or not. She was good at reading people, even manipulating, but with Mark she was never fully sure whether what he was saying was truth or a lie. But she realized that she'd be long dead if he had no positive feelings to her. In fact, she put a lot of effort into making that assumption a reality, especially the night they took her to the dark room.  
She felt like she was living on borrowed time after that, but her mindset was too reasonable to brush off ambitious opportunities. Her reading skills only suggested that diving deeper is the way to go. And trusting her instincts was crucial for survival - at least because they saved her once already. Mark Jefferson was her key to the future. With someone like him at her side she could achieve any dream she wanted. And she considered herself in a perfect position to make those dreams come true.

"Even Nathan?" the blonde inquired, prying for understanding even though she already knew the answer.  
Wasn't hard to guess the reason for keeping a psycho with resources around, especially when you're doing the same thing yourself.  
Though her case was different since she did feel something for Jefferson. It wasn't all about her career - Mark was a truly charming person, wise and experienced. Their relationship began a long time ago, when his doings were still a mystery to Rachel. It's easy to admit that she didn't plan to feel this way originally, the status of a key to a successful career was the reason why she tried to charm him in the first place, but eventually he charmed her as well. And after _that_ night whatever relationship they had grew into a unique, deeper connection, complexity of which even Rachel didn't fully understand.

"Especially Nathan. That spoiled brat does not have an eye for art."

The blonde approached for a peek at the pictures, "That's too harsh. You should go easy on him. He snapped before and when he snaps again we may not be as lucky."

"Well I'm not telling **him** that, am I?"  
The girl's observation slightly annoyed him, even though he realized that it was justified.  
"... but you're right. I have some plans for him tonight, which brings us back to the topic I wanted to talk to you about - the party. Kelly..."

Rachel instantly pulled away and performed a defensive motion with her palms the moment she heard her friend's name, "Mark, I'm not..."

For a moment his tone lost its delight, "I **know**. Don't deny before you hear me out."  
"I know that you don't want to be a part of this and I respect your choice. However, I would really like you to stay away from Kelly tonight to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention to yourself, considering you have someone actively watching you."

"... that makes sense." the girl relaxed a bit, "Sorry, I didn't mean to overreact."

"It's okay. But since this is the first opportunity for you to see me in action with someone other than yourself, I want you to take it."  
Rachel took at moment before trying to say no again, but Mark already noticed the pause and added, "Your mere presence cannot be harmful to anyone. You must understand that."  
He continued in a more determined voice, "I expect you to understand that."

Her eyes darted for a second. What he suggested would be dreadful for someone outside of their circle. But his logic made sense in her head nonetheless. She can't stop them without harming her future. But she won't harm anyone with just being there either...  
_Dive deeper..._

With a glimpse of uncertainty the girl nodded in acceptance.

"Good. Nathan will meet you at the gas station when the hard part is taken care of. He'll let you know."

Mark took out a cheap burner phone from his bag and gave it to Rachel, "Keep it on you until we're done. Make sure you aren't followed to the meeting. Don't call anyone from this phone. Got it?"

"Yeah."

He held her by her chin with his fingers, looking down with what seemed like a somewhat deceptive expression of hope. They both leaned in for another kiss.

"I'm glad you agreed. But we shouldn't stay here together much longer, or else people will start spreading rumors."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll go ahead."

She grabbed her bag and headed out, lingering before opening the door, "I guess I'll see you... tonight."

"I'll be waiting."

As she closed the door behind her, the realization of what she signed up for came upon her like a sudden tornado in the middle of a cloudless day.

 _Jesus fucking christ... what in the hell am I getting myself into?... I'm too fucking naive... None of our feelings will stand in his way if I make a single wrong step..._ _ **he's going to fucking kill me**_ _..._  
She paced around for a minute, trying to collect herself.  
_No, calm down. Calm the fuck down. You've got this. You've done dangerous shit before. There is no reason to panic..._  
_He doesn't have a reason to hurt you and you aren't giving him any. He wants you. Maybe even loves you in his own way. You're good. Yeah..._

Breakdown averted. For now. Luckily the halls were empty on a Saturday, so no one was around to see it.  
The girl headed towards the exit, still a bit shaky but mostly okay. As she was about to turn the corner, Nathan popped out and startled her.

"So, how'd it go?" he wondered with genuine curiosity.

Rachel spoke faster than usual, high on the nerves, "Well... I.. he.. gave me a phone."  
She swallowed and continued, "Said you'd meet me at the gas station after..."

"Yeah, don't worry. I can't plan when the bitch blacks out, obviously, but I'll handle the heavy lifting. Just stay away. I'll text you when she's ready in the dark room, expect it to be pretty late at night. But I wasn't asking about..."  
_Jesus fuck shit he's talking like he's done this a thousand times before..._  
_... this is so fucked up, I'm so fucked, what the hell am I doing?_  
Her eyes widened as Nathan finished the sentence, "...that. You promised to talk to him about me."  
Her hands went cold and shaky, she stuttered, "R-r-right, I... listen, I need to go, I'll talk to you laterr..oooor just t-text me, okay? I really need to go."  
Rachel's swift departure surprised Nathan at first, but then he noticed her heading towards the bathroom and rolled his eyes, letting out an annoyed sigh, "Bitches..."

The girl stormed into the bathroom and leaned on one of the sinks, putting the pressure on both hands with her head down, looking at the drain, breathing faster than usual. After a few moments of trying to calm her breath she looked up at the mirror - her eyes were red, but not teary. Sighing nervously she turned on the hot water to warm her hands up a bit. They were still shuddering. She splashed some water on her face and let out a long sigh, still unsteady but less so.  
The warmth of the water made the girl feel a bit more calm, but nowhere near okay. Her mind was still mostly trapped in the darkness. She took out her phone and desperately typed some texts, not caring that her hands were still wet.

[RACHEL: hey you busy?]  
[RACHEL: can we chill somewhere?]  
[RACHEL: please?]  
[CHLOE: Sure.]  
[CHLOE: I'll meet u at the parking lot.]

Chloe's swift response has lifted Rachel's spirit a bit, though that was more like a drop of white in the ocean of black. She spent another minute at the mirror, swallowed, then headed out.  
  
  
As the girl approached the parking lot she was surprised by an unexpected sight - Chloe was already waiting on the hood of her truck.

"How are you here already?" she asked from afar with a dumbfounded look, picking up her pace.

"Teleportation. Seriously though, I was gonna surprise you but you texted me as I was parking, so-ooof."  
Rachel expelled the air from Chloe's lungs with a strong hug. Returning it, she continued, "... I was gonna say that you ruined the surprise, but..."  
"No, your timing is perfect." the blonde interrupted, still burying her head in her friend's neck, "Thank you." The girl really meant it. She was almost teary-eyed.

They both enjoyed the hug for a while. As they pulled away, Chloe worried, "Are you okay? You seem disturbed."

"It's been one hella stressful day..."

"Come on. You can ramble about it in my batmobile."

The girls climbed into the truck and when Chloe started the engine Rachel looked... overwhelmed.

"Can I... like... not?" Her voice was kinda sheepish. "I can't bear to even think about it any more."

"Woah, that bad?" Chloe took her hand, "Sure you don't wanna lay it out?.. You know I'm here for you."

"Yes, just..." She was interrupted by a stomach grumble. "Can we go to Two Whales? All I had since the morning were some shitty snacks."

"Sure. Chauffeur Price at your service." said Chloe, tipping an invisible fedora. Though the joke didn't seem to make Rachel smile as much as she wanted. She lingered for a bit and added, "You know, I have just the thing for you..." Her hand reached out to open the glove box, which revealed a hefty package of a not entirely legal kind of grass.

"Holy shit, Chlo. Where did you get this?"

"I have mysterious friends too, you know." she answered with a smug face. "I got this for tonight's party, but you seem to deserve an exception."

Rachel just stared at her friend with amused disbelief.

"What? You didn't think I'd come to the party empty-handed, did you?"

"Price, you are one of a kind." she announced with a grin.

"I know." she nudged her, "That's why you love me. Shall we?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay off for now actually. Besides, I don't want you to crash your truck again, especially with me in it."

"Dude, you really need to fix your trust issues with my driving skills."

"Why? I trust them..." Rachel chuckled and added, smiling, "When you're on the passenger side."  
Not letting her friend think of a quip to respond with, she continued, "Can we go now? I'm kinda starving."  
  
  
The drive through Arcadia Bay proved to be incredibly relaxing. Spring weather has finally succumbed to the unbeatable power of the summer. With only a few clouds in the entire sea of light, the shine of the midday sun created a long trail of reflections leading somewhere far into the ocean, almost inviting you to follow it into the hopeful unknown. The air was warm and Rachel's hand reveled in gliding on the waves of soft wind just outside the truck's open window. Her mind was slowly ascending from the endless void as the blue beacon sitting beside provided a blinding sense of safety.

When they parked by the diner Rachel was already feeling calm and... giddy? It was strange how much her mood has changed after spending only a few minutes with her friend. For a moment she wondered if that's how Chloe feels whenever she spends time with her.  
She didn't fully know what it was like to live Chloe's life. Well, she knew a lot _through Chloe_ , but never got to experience it herself. The constant rebellion, borderline domestic abuse, fucked up relationships, loss, abandonment... It's one thing to understand the words but feeling is another.  
Meaning so much to someone was an immense source of comfort. And having someone that makes her feel this way made her happy.

It was Saturday, so Joyce was probably enjoying David's company somewhere. Not seeing her at her usual place at the diner made Rachel come to that conclusion, but she figured it's best not to pry her friend about it.  
The girls sat down in the corner stall and ordered a couple of cups of joe and a large slice of cherry pie.

"So, now that my truck is fixed we should put it to good use." the bluenette spoke as the waitress arrived with the dessert.

"What do you have in mind?" Rachel inquired with curiosity, then hungrily attacked the pie with a fork.

"I dunno. We could go somewhere next weekend or something. A small scouting trip for the future escape."

"Mmmm, dude, this pie is amazing." she admired the food which consumed most of her attention, "How come you never made me try it?"  
The girl proceeded to greedily chew into the pastry.

Chloe was already too deep in her dreams to answer that question, "It would be so cool to finally get out for a couple of days. And next week would be perfect..."

"Mmmm.. mhm."

"...You don't have a photography class too, so we could just head out on Friday..."

"Mhmmmm.. mm."

Chloe tilted her head and blankly stared at her friend. She was really murdering that pie.

"...Mmmhwhat?"

"Dude, it's not the last pie in your life."

Rachel let out a light snicker, and wiped her lips with a napkin, "Right, sorry."

"So what do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea." she said as she sipped from the cup, "We could grab a tent too. Roast some meat, drink some beers, just relax somewhere away from everyone."

"Sounds great when you say it."  
Chloe joined in on the pie. As she cut out a slice, she continued, "In reality we'll probably be bored as hell though."

"Doesn't mean we can't start busting shit up when we get bored." the blonde grinned.

"Ooooh, now that's the Rachel I know." the punk responded playfully, smiling as she bit into her slice.

The girls spent some time eating and chatting. There was nowhere to hurry, so they just enjoyed each other's company. But not hurrying somewhere doesn't always equate to not having to be there at all. Rachel still had to do some things before and for the party, so after some time Chauffeur Price was happy to take her back to Blackwell. The girls parted with an arrangement to meet a bit after the event starts, or to coordinate the meeting via texts. Chloe drove off to do whatever Chloe does without school, while Rachel went back to her dorm to figure things out with people for the upcoming night.


	4. All Eyes on Me

The few hours after Rachel got back from the diner were very hectic. Her responsibility for the party was mostly the music - the DJ that the Vortex Club hired was stuck in a limbo somewhere and no one could reach him, so they had to ask her for help in case he never shows up. But since she handled the music yesterday, today's troubles were of a different kind.

Drama, the universe's only constant. Apparently Logan and Dana had a big fight, so the girl desperately needed a human sized tissue box, for a position of which Rachel considerately provided herself. An hour of bitching about her boyfriend in Rachel's room with a cup of tea was enough to make her feel better again.  
...If only it ended there, but it did not. Once Logan showed up at the doorstep to apologize or rather shift the blame and avoid responsibility as Dana figured, Rachel's magazines involuntarily started flying in his general direction. Not amused with misuse of her fashionable paper, she had to act as a peacekeeper between the two sides, eventually making Logan leave and Dana cry on her couch again.  
Having to comfort a friend once more was not the end of her adventures however. The drama storm blew over, leaving no memories of the promise she made to another friend earlier today, and when Kelly knocked on the door there was nothing to satisfy her request. The only way this could be fixed was a trip to the floor below - Nathan's lair was the only source of favors she had left. Luckily, Nathan himself wasn't present in his room, so Rachel was keen to take advantage of having keys to it. Surely he wouldn't mind. A friend is in need and all.

Kelly's amused departure has marked the beginning of a long awaited alone time which Rachel could finally spend on preparing herself for the party, and she did exactly that.

Now, wearing her favorite getup of a red plaid buttoned shirt, black undershirt, dark ripped jeans and just one blue feather earring that she doesn't even remember why she's wearing all the time she stood against the mirror trying to add final touches to her makeup as the phone buzzed in her pocket.

[COURTNEY: Hey, we need you in the VIP zone. He's here.]  
[RACHEL: Shouldn't he have his own mix then?]  
[COURTNEY: He asked to see what we have and I have no idea what happened to your set.]  
[COURTNEY: Come figure this out so we can get the party started.]  
 _Sigh..._  
[RACHEL: Victoria happened. Talk to her, I'll be there in a few mins.]

Rachel pocketed her phone and turned back to the mirror, adding that last bit of mascara to her eyelashes, then a minute later she was finally ready to leave the room.

It was already evening, but not late enough for the sun to hide below the horizon. While Rachel took time to improve her looks, the sky did the same by clearing itself completely, leaving nothing but the crimson disk in the distance. The rose light painted the walls of Blackwell Academy in a vibrant vermilion color, reflecting off the windows and creating spots of red on the fresh spring patches of grass.  
The blinding sun was just above the makeshift stage in the middle of the football court across the road, which seemed to be already occupied by DJ Death Tornado... or whatever his name was. There were already quite a few people randomly hanging to the right of the stage, or the pleb zone as some Vortex members often referred to it. The VIP zone was on the opposite side and was mostly boarded up by curtains, had more and fancier couches, stage access, a mountain sized bouncer and its own separate bar with actual alcohol. The Vortex Club knew how to party. The pleb zone however wasn't all that bad - it too had a bar, though it only served light drinks, and a few couches, a spacious dancing area by the stage and tables here and there. Any kind of authority was enjoying their Prescott-paid vacation elsewhere, so on paper the party was alcohol-free.  
People slowly arrived at the court and casually congregated into crowds around the stage.

Rachel approached the field with a heavy chest - she could feel her heartbeat very clearly, almost as if she held her breath to fully focus on it. It was a very strange feeling.

As the DJ said a few words of greeting the girl walked into the Vortex area and then backstage to meet Courtney.  
When she reached talking distance the brunette noticed her and her eyes darted guiltily.

"Hey. I'm sorry but Victoria already had a set and the DJ is about to start it up."

"God damn it." Rachel sighed with irritation, "I _knew_ she'd throw something like this. She wouldn't stop orbiting me in the past few days."

"Yeah..."

"Know where I could find her?"

"Um.. she's.. around.. here somewhere."

Courtney was the last person to feel bad for others in such situations, but she was as much of a friend of Rachel as Victoria, and clearly the situation was tearing her apart. It was obvious that she didn't want to choose sides.  
The weird thing is, Rachel wasn't even sure what she did to make Victoria screw with her so much. At this point it wasn't the case of her usual bitchy side - she was deliberately going out of her way to mess with her. And it was predominantly confusing rather than frustrating or rage-inducing.  
Determined to find understanding, she pushed on with a question, "Can't you just tell me where she is so we can work this out? I'll find her anyway, it would just take longer without your help."  
The brunette's face changed as she heard Rachel's request, almost as if she just made up her mind about something. Matching the determined tone of her friend, she explained, "Look, I don't know what your beef with Victoria is, but I refuse to get dragged into it. I'm not picking sides. Work it out between yourselves... And unless you wanna grab a drink with me, I'm gonna go chill with Hayden."

She walked out quickly, vanishing behind a corner and leaving Rachel alone. As she did so, the DJ started his intro, loudly turning the backstage into an ear bleeding zone. The girl quickly slipped back out, meeting the cheering crowd of the VIP area. She started scanning the surroundings and eventually laid her eyes upon Zachary sitting on the couch next to the bar, and then Victoria right beside him. It seems that they were enjoying each others company, though Rachel couldn't give a damn about it after all this bullshit.  
Without even looking at the jock, she approached her and tenaciously shouted over the music, "Zachary, can I have a moment with Victoria?"  
The tone of the girl gave him a strong vibe of 'some shit is about to go down'. He glanced at Rachel and then back at his companion for approval, which she granted with a nod, though he already knew that he'd nope the fuck out of there even without it.  
Victoria leaned on the couch with a smug expression, anticipating all the gloating she's about to conduct. But once Zachary was out of their private space, Rachel unexpectedly sat down beside her and caught her off guard by doing so. The girl had a clear and slightly irritated tone, "What's your problem? What the hell do you think I did that pissed you off so much?"

She frowned in return as if she was offended by the question, "What's **my** problem? Un-fucking-believable!" Her face alternated between spite and disdain but the voice was rather puzzled, "You have the audacity to come to me and claim that you're the victim? How do you even sleep at night?"  
She shook her head and dismissively scoffed, "This is a new low even for you, Amber."

"What are you even talking about?" Rachel spat impatiently with genuine confusion, narrowing her eyes.

Confident in her words, she wondered, "You're just gonna keep pretending? Are you _really_ that desperate?" The blonde looked away and added another dismissive remark, "Wow, you are seriously pathetic."

"You're not making any sense, Victoria." The shorter girl was getting visibly indignant, but still tried to act reasonable, "I'm not trying to compete with you. Can we please skip all this bullshit and get to the point?"

Yet again she spoke dismissively, not keeping the eye contact, but this time added even more contempt to her voice as if that didn't seem physically impossible already, "You can't drag me into your stupid games. I'm not gonna let you use everyone I care about for your miserable attempts at life."  
Almost as if she was preparing for years for this performance, she looked straight back at Rachel with a face that could murder a child, "You picked a wrong woman to mess with, **bitch**."  
She made sure that the emphasis on the last word was crystal clear.

It's no surprise that Victoria isn't the most pleasant person to talk to, but that last comment triggered a nuclear meltdown. Rachel already had a barely resistible desire to punch her in the face, but now it welded itself with an immense amount of confused frustration as well as absolute indignation from what Victoria put her through. She jumped up from the couch and faced the other blonde, furiously clutching her fists on the brink of putting them to use, "Can you just **FUCKING** TELL ME WHAT THE PROBLEM IS?"

Amused with Rachel's outburst, Victoria followed her up and locked her fiery gaze with the girl once they were standing face to face, sending all kinds of satanic energy through her smug shit-eating grin as Rachel would describe it.  
Before the taller blonde could turn the confrontation into a cat fight with another one of her insults, they were interrupted by probably the only person that could stop it - Nathan.

"Girls, calm down." he said as he walked in between them, lightly pushing them both away from each other, then faced Victoria, "Just relax. Rachel didn't do anything wrong..."

As she heard these words her evil grin turned into her typical outrageous frown, "Why the hell are you defending _her_?"

Nathan let out an annoyed sigh, then obscurely motioned her to wait, turning to Rachel, and spoke quiet enough so only she could hear, "I'm getting tired of your bullshit. Give us a moment to talk."  
His demand sounded rather threatening.

She lingered and replied angrily, "Whatever.", giving the other girl a death stare as she walked away.

The sun has completed its daily cycle, revealing other stars on the blank dark sky. The end of the natural lighting has marked the beginning of the artificial - the light posts around the field not only produced regular light, but also had strong projectors mounted on them, all of which provided colorful dancing patches. Most of the VIP zone as well as the stage surroundings were also lit with tall neon stands that were apparently hooked up to the DJ's music equipment since they changed colors according to the beats.

Rachel took a seat on the side of the bar as far away from Victoria as she could, though she still glanced back from time to time - her and Nathan were having a heated discussion about something. On the verge of killing the mood completely, she decided to avoid them for the rest of the night. She took a shot of tequila, then remembered that another friend was supposed to show up right about... now? She sent a couple of texts to Chloe.

[RACHEL: Hey, I'm in the VIP zone.]  
[RACHEL: You're on the list so just go left through the curtains past the bouncer.]

Not expecting an answer, she stood up and headed to the other side of the VIP area - it had two large corner couches forming a square with a vortex spiral ornamented table in the middle. There were people occupying them already - Hayden in the corner with his right hand around Courtney's shoulders, Logan on the side of the opposite couch with his feet on the table, facing away from the entrance, and Taylor sitting on the other side of his couch with a bong.

As the blonde approached them Hayden smiled and waved his left hand at her, "Rachelll!", and was followed by a slightly unenthusiastic but friendly "Hey." from Taylor.

Smiling back, she crashed on the couch beside him, letting his free hand wrap around her shoulders and pulled her feet onto the remaining space to the left.

They exchanged awkward glances with Logan - he looked like he was bottling something up, but waited for the right moment to talk about it. Taylor distracted herself from the bong and wondered, "So what was that all about?", clearly referring to the confrontation earlier.

Courtney cut Rachel off before she could speak, "You don't wanna go there, Taylor."

"If I didn't want to then I wouldn't ask, _Courtney_." she addressed her friend, probably mimicking the name drop a bit too harshly. She then turned her curiosity back to Rachel, "So?"

The blonde shrugged, shaking her head, "Believe me or not, I still have no idea."

Taylor snickered, "Right.", then took a hit from the bong.

Logan recognized the pause as his turn to bring something up. He attempted to sound casual, but sounded rather desperate instead, "So how's Dana?"

Rachel really didn't feel like sifting through more and more drama today. She was here to party and enjoy her time. She glanced at the entrance behind him impatiently, waiting for a reason to avoid answering this question to walk through the curtains, but instead was saved by a violent cough coming from Taylor.

"Whoa girl, take it easy." Hayden reacted, instinctively trying to reach out to her, but then remembered what pleasant position his hands were in and remained still.

"Fucking...hot..." she whispered, coughing again with visible puffs coming out. She left the bong on the table, free for anyone's use.

"Pass it to me." he said, unsure whether he was addressing Rachel or Courtney, then let go of the blonde as she extended her hand towards it, and took a hit, passing it to her afterwards. She took a light hit as well, then rested her head on his shoulder as she expelled the smoke, letting him wrap his hand around her again.

The next what-felt-like-almost-an-hour was filled with random chit chat, some more smoking, other people joining and leaving and Rachel glancing at the entrance from time to time.  
She decided to leave her current crowd for a while and talk to other people outside of the VIP area, and shot a few more texts to Chloe on the way.

[RACHEL: You're missing all the fun :(]  
[RACHEL: I'll be around the dance floor on the right.]  
[RACHEL: But you take your time, it's not like I can get too blazed to dance with you or anything.]  
[RACHEL: ;)]

The party was in full force so the pleb zone was filled with dancing people as well as random couples and circles of diverse teenagers. Since Rachel was saving her dance mood for Chloe's arrival, she headed towards some familiar faces to strike a fun conversation, but then intercepted Evan who suddenly emerged from the moving crowds.

"Evan!" she called out with a smile, successfully attracting his attention, and spread her arms for a hug.

"Hey Rachel, long time no see!" he happily replied, returning the hug. They really haven't seen each other outside of classes in a long time, despite living in the same building.  
He grinned and asked, "What are you doing out here with simple mortals?", making sure his tone can only be taken as a joke, even though he too was the kind of person that could get into the VIP zone any time he wanted.

"Hah." she chuckled as she pulled away, "There's too much drama behind those curtains. What have you been up to?"

"A lot in the past week actually. I'm putting a new photoset together."

"Oooh, interesting." she said teasingly.

"Yeah. You should come check it out, I could use a talented critic."

"I _should_ , indeed." the blonde giggled at his compliment, "How about tomorrow evening? I could drop by your room if you're free."

"I am, and that sounds great!" he admitted warmly.  
Someone behind Rachel distracted him with a wave, which he returned and said, "Anyway, I was going to meet someone..."

"Alright." she smiled, making it okay for him to leave, "Have fun!"

"You too!"

As they split up Rachel continued her journey through the flowing crowds, pulling out her phone yet again for another quick text.

[RACHEL: Seriously. We'll all be passed out by the time you arrive, slowpoke.]

The circle of familiar faces she was heading to has gotten smaller since she last saw them before bumping into Evan, and now only consisted of Trevor, Justin and... Dana, smoking a joint.  
 _Wtf?_ \- Rachel had to put some effort to resist a chuckle at the unexpected sight.

As she approached closer they noticed the girl and Justin greeted her with a fist bump, followed by Trevor's upward nod to which Rachel responded with a friendly "Hey."

Turning to Dana with a puzzled smile, she was too slow to ask a question and got one from her instead.  
"You know each other?" she wondered, glancing at them one by one with interest.

"Yeah, we hang out. What are you doing here though, _you_ of all people?" she asked curiously, successfully trying not to come off as offensive.  
Rachel didn't think of Dana as someone who'd spend her time with skater boys, though she was happy to see her around them. Her need for a change after today's happenings was understandable as well.

Grinning from the oddness of the situation or maybe the lit roll she was holding, she replied, "Not in the mood for the Vortex Club.", then playfully nudged Trevor as she added "And these guys seem pretty cool."

"Dana here used to have a Powell." Justin explained.

" _Really?_ "

"Yeah. It was kind of a hobby before this whole cheerleading thing..." She trailed off a bit, but then smiled, "I don't think I've gotten more bruises in years of cheerleading than I did in the brief period of skating.", she laughed at her observation, "Speaks for how good of a skater I am."

"Or how good of a cheerleader." Trevor added, nudging her back.

"Aww, so sweet."

"I'm trying to get her to join us tomorrow." Justin yelled to Rachel over the suddenly louder music, then turned to Dana, "Rachel agreed to be our camera man."

"Yeah. And if you're too afraid to skate you can just hang out with us anyway or help her with the montage." Trevor reassured, "By the way", he turned to Rachel, "Is Chloe coming tonight? I wanted to talk her into this as well."

"She is, yeah, but she's taking her sweet time." the blonde responded with a bit of lighthearted annoyance. She suddenly felt a repeating buzz in her pocket, different from the usual single ones from the texts.  
"Oh, and this is probably her." she said as she pulled the phone out, and stepped away from the group, answering without looking at the screen.

"Hey, you finally here yet?"

"R..ch.. ..m.. t..bl.."

"What? Hold on - I'll find a quiet spot, can't hear over the music."

There weren't really any quiet spots since the entire place was a flat wide open field with either meek curtains as borders or just nothing at all. The blonde decided to slip through the closest break in the curtain wall and quickly walked outside the border of the court behind some little shed.

"Alright, what's taking you so long?"

"Rachel... I'm in trouble." Her voice was a mix of sad, guilty and angry.

Whatever positive feelings Rachel has accumulated from the time she spent at the party were instantly wiped and replaced with worry and concern.  
"What happened? Are you hurt?" she asked loudly, almost cracking her voice.

"I'm in jail. It's not looking good." she answered, sounding even more guilty than before.

The girl was dumbfounded by the news, "But..-What? How? Why?"

Chloe sighed heavily and started explaining, "Well... I parked in a handicapped spot by the store, and... long story short I ended up smoking in the car a while later, and then some cops came to write a ticket, but one of them recognized the smell and...", her voice became angrier as she went on, "... and **apparently** that was enough for them to search my vehicle - FUCKING ASSHOLES!" she directed the yell away from the phone, aiming at some cops, "... so they found the package, and now they're throwing my priors in my face and mentioning distribution..."  
She took a half angry shuddering breath, then continued with very apparent fear in her voice, "I'm afraid David's connections can't get me out of this one... and I don't think he'd even bother any more..." Her voice was getting quieter, Rachel could tell that she was suppressing a sob.

"What can I do?" she asked eagerly with confidence in her voice, the intonation could only be described as 'Use me for whatever you need, I'm ready'.

"Nothing, you can't do anything. I just... could you tell Joyce?.. The first person I thought of calling was you and.. even if I had the courage to tell her myself, I've already spent my call on you, so... please?"

"Of course." Rachel earnestly assured like it was the only existing answer to that question. "But listen, you hang tight in there, okay? I'm gonna pull some favors, maybe I'll be able to bail you out or get someone good to represent you."

"No no, I don't want you to-"

"It's not up for discussion." she interrupted, hoping that a strong determined voice can provide some comfort or inspiration, "Just calm down, sit tight and don't tell them anything. _Trust me._ We'll get through this. You're gonna be okay."  
Not getting expected confirmation from the other end, she added, "Okay?"

"Okay..." she trailed off.

"I'll get you out of this."

She hung up, pocketed her phone and put her palm on her forehead, letting out a heavy sigh. Her mind started racing with possibilities in an attempt to find the one that benefits Chloe the most. She paced around for a couple of minutes, considering her options.

"FUCK!"

That was the sound of a shitty realization. She came to a conclusion that her best bet and also the only option was ironically the last person she wanted to count on - Nathan. The Prescotts have immense influence over Arcadia Bay, more than anyone else she knew. It was probably enough to even cover up the entire thing, let alone make the cops go easy on Chloe. Plus, Nathan is a friend. Kind of. She wasn't sure how he felt after what happened earlier. Something hinted that his dissatisfaction was not only because of the Victoria situation. She was almost sure that he expected more from her talk with Jefferson, and she didn't even give him an explanation about it today. It's a shitty option, but it's the one that might save her friend. She briskly headed back to the VIP zone.

As Rachel entered the Vortex area she looked over the corner couches from before. The group of people sitting there now consisted of Zachary, Juliet, Lyla, Victoria, Nathan and Kelly.  
Determined, she walked over to Nathan and shouted over the music, "I need to speak to you."

He looked up at her, then quickly glanced at Kelly and back, giving Rachel a look only she could understand.

"It's important!" she yelled. The girl seemed tense and her voice sounded serious.

Visibly annoyed, he got up and led her away from the group so they could talk in private. Upon finding some free space by a curtain wall outside of anyone's hearing distance he impatiently began speaking.  
"Look, Victoria doesn't really want to fight you, but she thinks that you're leaving her no choice..."

Rachel wanted to interrupt him to talk about Chloe, but since he started explaining Victoria's behavior she was interested enough to let him finish.

"Somehow she knows or suspects about you and Mark. She thinks that you're trying to take her place or some shit, and that you're using me to do it. I guess she got that idea from yesterday because I abandoned something we planned together to pick you up. But whatever happened with the music is between her and you. So if you won't drag this out she's not going to either."  
He shifted closer to the girl with a hostile expression, "This is the last time I'm playing a fucking peacekeeper. Sort this shit out by yourselves. Are we done?"

"No, this isn't why I came to you-"

"Then why the fuck?-" he interrupted, angrily spreading his hands without raising them, but then Rachel interrupted him back.

"Listen! I need a favor. This is important..."

"Well?" he spat impatiently as she briefly paused, showing a mix of rage and annoyance on his face, but ready to listen.

"...My friend is in trouble. She's at the PD right now, they busted her with a pack of grass and I need you to get her out. I know you have connections."

"And how is this my problem? You didn't do shit when I asked for your help."

Rachel hoped she could shift the point of the conversation so that her effortless attempt to talk to Jefferson didn't seem as bad to Nathan. Though pulling that one off didn't seem likely.  
"I talked to Mark like I said I would." she said, unsure if he was oblivious to her lack of confidence.

But he already made his own conclusions and expressed them with a disgusted look on his face, "We both know that's just a bullshit excuse. For all _I_ know you mocked me behind my back. That's if you brought me up at all while slobbering all over him."

"I tried!" she shouted hopelessly without even thinking, afraid that she was losing him.

"Not hard enough. Go bust your bitch out by yourself."  
He turned back towards the couches and started walking away. Rachel reached out with her hand and desperately called out, "Wait!", to no effect.

Instead of just standing there defeated, she took a few fast steps towards him to catch up, and firmly grabbed his elbow, yelling over the music, "Do you still want me to pose for you?"

Nathan sluggishly turned around, showing a glimpse of interest in his eyes, then incredulously wondered, "Would you _really_ do that?" and smirked mockingly, "What about your righteous drug abstinence?"

The blonde sighed briefly, relieved that she didn't lose him completely. As she heard the question she swallowed and tried to hide her desperation behind determination, "I'm willing to sacrifice it as long as you do what I ask."

He lingered for a moment, thinking whether he should trust her or not. The girl seemed especially bothered by this situation, so he figured it's worth a shot, "Alright, I'll make the call."

" **Now** , Nathan." she insisted, "The name is Chloe Price, she was arrested earlier today."

"Fine, give me a minute." He took out his phone and walked away from Rachel's hearing distance, covering his other ear with his palm.

The girl paced around nervously as he spent a couple of minutes talking. For some reason she instinctively wanted to text Chloe to tell that her she's going to be okay, despite realizing that she won't see it. She resisted the urge though. But all of Rachel's thoughts now revolved around her friend - she couldn't bear the thought of her locked up in some shitty cell for years. Or even for a few hours. She needed to know that she's okay.

Nathan hung up and came back while she was spacing out, and the touch of his hand made her jump.  
"The pigs will act like it never happened."

She sighed with relief, "Thank you."

Holding his phone in front of him, he admonished, "This better not be one of your empty promises. Remember that I can always make another call.", and pocketed it as he finished the sentence.

Rachel nodded in response. Most of Nathan's hostility and distrust seemed to have ceased for now, though she still understood that they won't fully dissipate until he sees her at work.

"Since we aren't going to sleep tonight anyway, let's do the shoot next morning, after we're done with the rest."

All this worrying about Chloe put the dark room on the background. She was still feeling conflicted, but now that her friend was in trouble she felt like she **must** be with her. The repercussions of avoiding tonight's happenings paled in front of an image of not being there for Chloe. Rachel made it clear that she was going to do anything and everything to help her, and this was a time when she needed a true friend.  
...And Mark will provide more opportunities anyway. _He'll understand. It's not a loss._  
"I'm... Actually, there's one more thing. I'm gonna go meet her... and that means I won't be joining you tonight."

Nathan lingered, surprised, not following the logic. But he was beyond the point of caring enough to try, so he just warned instead, "...Whatever. If Mark doesn't take this well I won't play a peacekeeper again."

"I don't expect you to. Just tell him that I had a good reason, and that I'll explain it to him later."

Doubtful, he still agreed, "Fine.", glancing back at the group he left, worried that spending more time with the blonde would risk losing his prey.  
"Anyway, wear the same clothes as the first time. I'll text you and come pick you up. Now unless you have any more surprises I need to get back before they leave."

The girl nodded again and with that they went their own ways, as Rachel was free to leave the party.


	5. All Wrong

The night sky's weak blackness was driven away by the dark painting of blue that surrounded the curves of the shining moon which were just three phases away from becoming a full circle. Their light was enough to illuminate spots where the cold streetlights could not fight their fight with the darkness, making them feel somewhat lonely and peaceful. Nothing was purely unseen in this dim motionless sea of silver and blue - lacking wind, the nature was still. The brisk songs of the crickets could not be heard as the air surrounding Blackwell was entirely consumed by the vigorous melody of flourishing life.  
Obedient to the extent of its power, that radiating spirit was slowly muffling itself to match Rachel's swiftly increasing distance from the party. The night's atmosphere would be quick to reveal it's secrets if only the girl had spare attention to pay them. Her pace was fast and thoughts were clear as she focused her mind on her current task - meeting her friend.

The size of Arcadia Bay provided short reach to everything, especially now that it was mostly downhill. Not longer than ten minutes of quick walking later the blonde could already see the bright yellow lights of the PD's interior shining outwards onto the street.  
Approaching closer she spotted a blue haired girl exiting through the main entrance with a puzzled look on her face. Taking a few steps outside, the girl reached into her pocket for a cigarette, not really noticing her friend standing just a few meters away. She looked confused as hell as Rachel watched her with a smile. The cigarette however did not reach her mouth before their eyes finally locked with each other.  
Her face went through the full rainbow of emotions that moment - from confusion to surprise, to _realization_ , then guilt, then surprise again and then finally joy. Unable to say a word other than "Rachel?" she reduced the distance between them with a few quick steps and tightly squeezed the girl with a hug, burying her head in her soft blonde hair. She lightened her grasp a few moments later and pulled back to clasp the thin shoulders and cheerfully exclaim "You are my angel!" and then resumed her suffocating grip.

Barely able to breathe Rachel was grinning in her arms, "That's right. What would you do without me?..."

Eventually letting her friend suck in some air, Chloe shifted back and slid her right hand from behind up to the blonde's right shoulder, allowing the girl to wrap her left hand around the punk's waist.  
"Well I'd be stuck in that cell for a lot longer than this!" she smirked with the same solemnity in her voice, snuggling her closer as they started walking down the street.  
"Man, the way these idiots let me go, I thought they were gonna give me my weed back." she laughed, "You never cease to amaze me, girl. What did you do?"

"Ah, Megan owed me a favor." she quickly responded, waving her hand in a 'no big deal' motion, fully counting on Chloe not to recognize the name she just made up, "Sheriff's daughter."

"Huh, look at you having friends in high places..." she teased, lightly nudging her friend. She took a moment to reflect on her words and slowed down the pace as her thoughts started steering back to the guilt from before. After a few steps in silence she sighed heavily and stopped, lightly pressing on Rachel's shoulder with her fingers, "I'm... sorry for ruining your night... going all doomed and freaked on you and just... being a complete fuckup."

"Hey." Rachel pulled away a bit so she could half-face Chloe, leaving a palm on her back as she looked into her eyes, "You're not a fuckup. You're my best friend."

She shook her head, "I dragged you out here to save me from another trouble while you should be having fun partying with better friends." The expression of her face alternated between self-spite and guilt.

"You're so silly." the blonde smiled, "Why do you think I asked you to come?"  
She blinked, lingering for dramatic effect, and continued, "I want _you_ by my side. _You_ are the one I'm having fun with, party or not. I don't care where I am as long as you're there with me."  
She put her other arm around her friend as she finished that sentence, hugging her gently and resting her chin on her shoulder, "To be perfectly honest? I'm not even in the mood to party tonight."

"Oh..." Chloe whispered as the girl snuggled up to her. Her eyes were getting wet as she returned the hug, "Yeah... me neither..."  
She softly held onto the blonde until she was sure that she resisted the tears and regained most of her voice, "Crash at my place?"

"Yeah. Movie night?"

"He- **heh** -Hell yeah." Chloe chuckled, then repositioned back to their previous pose and started leading them down the street towards the Price residence.

The night was calm and peaceful. Rachel could often feel the air carry glimpses of music from somewhere far away, adding extra charm to their stroll towards Cedar avenue. The moon poured its silver light all over the town as it was able to be seen from anywhere in Arcadia Bay. Just like the lighthouse with its spinning ray or the tall tower of the Blackwell Academy painted in dancing colors. Somehow the starry cobalt sky made her feel relieved as she realized that if not for Chloe, she'd be at the party right now shuffling through her masks. Dealing with drama, keeping up relationships, planning things ahead...  
Rachel wondered if there would always have to be a choice. She couldn't help but feel like she was juggling opposites in her life - a grand future she's trying to build and a dear friend she's trying to keep safe. Both ways were different, but were they truly opposite? They both can and _do_ make her happy. Deep inside she felt like she would have to settle for one, but her mind refused to accept it.  
She did not want to see it this way. She refused it with every bit of reason she had. It didn't have to be a choice. With the right mindset there's nothing that can stop her from achieving both. Rachel wanted to build herself a happy life, _a perfect life._  
 _..._ But somehow a sacrifice was always needed in order to preserve one or the other. Always a choice that swayed her to one of the two sides. And now the new choice broke that balance again.  
It's... confusing, to say the least. Complicated. Exhausting to think about. After dealing with so much stress tonight Rachel just wanted to focus on something else. Like having a fun sleepover with her friend, leaving all the figuring things out for the next day.

The lights inside the Price household weren't on, so the girls assumed that David and Joyce were already sleeping and decided to act extra quiet. Though Chloe wouldn't be Chloe if she didn't take a detour through the garage to borrow a couple of David's beers. They carefully sneaked upstairs into her room and closed the door behind them, now free to do whatever they wanted as long as it wasn't too loud.

"Wanna see what I have on my laptop while I make this room a bit less of a mess?" Chloe smirked as she put the beers down by the bed.

"Sure." Rachel responded, taking off her plaid shirt and hanging it on the chair. She spent a couple of minutes looking through folders as her friend cleaned up the room.  
Suddenly she exclaimed, "Whoa! That's a lot of porn."

"WHAT!? Howdidyou-" Chloe instantly shouted back, then bit her lip as she saw the widest grin on the blonde's face. Her facepalm was followed by an explosion of laughter from across the room.  
" _Ihateyou..._ " she whispered, bending to collect whatever clothes she dropped on the floor to stuff them into a box in the corner.

Once calm enough to talk again, Rachel spoke, maintaining her smile, "You know, your movie stash really isn't as rich as you think it is..." She turned back to the laptop and made a few loud clicks, "But your _porn_ stash on the other hand..."

"Seriously! Not cool. You don't wanna see my porn stash."  
Another facepalm followed shortly, "Fuck! That's not what I meant.", but it was too late to stop Rachel from snorting into laughter again.  
"Fine, whatever, laugh all you want. You're gonna regret it next time I come over to your place..."  
She put on a serious tone and eyed her friend, "...but you didn't. actually. find it. did you?"

"...no."

"ok."

_..._

"So, how about Demolition Man? Stallone and Snipes in one movie? Sounds fun."

"Wait, _sounds_ fun?" Chloe froze for a second, "Have you honestly not seen that movie?"

"No? Is it good?"

"You _really_ never cease to amaze me." she flapped her hands in disbelief.

"I'll take that as a yes."

As Chloe finished tidying up the room Rachel brought the laptop to the bed. She put up both pillows in the center beside each other and unfolded the blanket, then grabbed the beer cans and carefully opened them. Her friend already ditched her pants and made herself comfortable in the bed by the time the cans were open, so Rachel handed one over and followed her example by ditching her jeans and joining her under the blanket.

All in all the evening was enjoyable for both of them, even though Chloe regretted not borrowing more beer. Though it wouldn't matter anyway since Rachel, understandably, had fallen asleep about 70 minutes into the movie. It's not like the movie was boring or anything, it's just that Rachel had a lot on her plate today, or so Chloe figured.

However at some point in the night Rachel woke up to a buzz. Somehow it didn't wake her friend, who was soundly sleeping beside. The buzz came from Rachel's jeans, and since they were within her hand's reach she took the phone out of them.  
Nothing.  
A confused sleepy mind didn't think much of it and decided to sloppily throw it to the jeans as if simply reaching out would be a bigger struggle. But when the phone hit something her brain finally clicked.  
With a surge of energy from this realization Rachel quickly searched her other pocket and took out the second phone. She leaned over a bit so Chloe couldn't see the screen if she randomly decided to wake up and peek.

[UNKNOWN: There better be a good reason why you aren't here right now.]

[ _..._ : There is. I will explain in person when I get the chance.]

She waited for about half a minute for another text, but it didn't come. Yawning, she hid the phones back into her pockets and went back to sleep.

The sun's attempts to reach its shining yellow arms into the room were successful as Chloe's US flag was casually laying on the floor below one of the windows, unable to prevent the tranquil spread of the morning light. Its gentle touch caressed the brown wooden floor and then reflected off to everything in sight, filling up the space with its comforting warmth. The air was mostly still and calm - someone with keen senses could easily see the flowing dust or feel the warm softness of a very faint breeze coming through the half-open window by the desk, through which they could also just make out the distant light blue pieces of the sky.  
The people and the nature were waking up together - the singing of the birds was accompanied by the occasional sounds of the passing cars outside. Life was already awake enough to follow its worries and desires.  
The blonde woke up to the sound of the closing door. She slowly rolled over to check on her friend - she wasn't there. Lingering on the bed for a minute, Rachel tried to fight the blissful delusion. What she felt was a dream - safe, peaceful, away from everything that burdens. Something that feels like it could last forever, but for some reason never truly does.  
After the said minute she finally mustered enough resolve to pull herself into reality and lazily sit up and rub her eyes. She looked over the room again to see if Chloe was actually in it, but she was not. Yawning, the girl got up and accidentally stepped on one of her phones.  
"Fucking shit..." she exhaled with mild annoyance.  
She bent over and grabbed both of them, then sat down on the chair by the desk to inspect them. Luckily there was no visible damage and they both worked fine, but the process of examining the burner has raised some thoughts.  
Now that the thing with Kelly was a missed opportunity she had to look forward to something else. Undoubtedly there would at least be one party until the end of the academic year. But... What's next? Run away with Chloe according to her plan? Give up on everything that Rachel worked so hard to achieve?  
She knew what would happen if they leave Arcadia Bay. Unlike her companion, she had the strength to give the situation a harsh realistic look. In truth, there was absolutely nothing behind Rachel, let alone Chloe, to actually allow them to survive in LA. No money. No connections. Not even high school diplomas. No matter how awesome it would be if they had all of that, they won't be able to survive if they leave right now with nothing. And **even** if they somehow manage to survive, there are no long term plans. Nothing to look forward to. _No living. Only survival._

The only logical course of action seemed to be staying in Arcadia Bay until Rachel is done with her studies. And that's another year, _at least_ , depending on how far she can go with Mark...  
Mark _fucking_ Jefferson. The most charming and ambitious man that also happens to be the most unique and beneficial opportunity she'll ever have to kickstart her career. His influence is great enough to not only be worth all of the risk of being close to him, but also staying for... at least for another year, maybe even _after_ she gets her papers. And what if _he_ decides to leave? And what if she could leave with him? How deep can their connection grow? The possibilities seemed endless.

But then what about Chloe? Make her stay in her personal hell for a few more years? Wait until Rachel is done chasing dreams? What about chasing Chloe's dreams?  
...But how can you chase her dreams without any means to make them come true?

_Maybe this is the best option for both of us... Not leaving... Not now. Not yet._

Rachel let out a frustrated sigh as she found herself clutching the burner rather tightly. She reached over to put it back into her jeans, faced the window and sighed again. The world outside seemed indifferent to her problems - everything and everyone had their own worries and concerns. She put her elbow on the desk and used it to support her forehead, looking down.  
"Maybe I really can't have both... Maybe not right now."  
After spending a minute thinking in this position the girl opened the desk drawer and took out a piece of paper and a pen.

**_C._ **   
**_I hate myself for doing it like this. I don't know if you found my other letter, but I realize that talking to you through them is incredibly shitty. Some things should be said in person and I just can't bring myself to straight up tell you everything. I don't want to hurt you, but I know that I will end up doing it anyway. I may as well be somewhere else when it happens so you don't have to suffer my presence on top of everything else._ **

**_You probably know that I've met someone special. Our relationship is complicated, but very close. The bottom line is that he can do something that no one else can, and the problem is that he can only do it here, in Arcadia Bay. You can probably see where this is going already, so I'll put the bullshit aside. I can't run away with you. Not yet. I know how much it hurts for you to stay in this shithole, but we can't just leave without any proper planning or preparation. We'll end up on the streets barely able to sustain ourselves because neither of us has anything but dreams to our names._ **   
**_I need time to firmly plant my feet in the ground. At least another year to finish my studies and start my career. That way when we do get out we'll have an actual future and a realistic ability to make our dreams come true._ **

**_I don't expect you to accept everything I said and not hate me for it. I'll give you some space. I'll understand if you decide to leave without me and I won't blame you for it. If it comes to that, I promise I will stay in touch and find you when I'm done._ **   
**_I just want you to know that I truly care about you and that I'm doing this for the best of both of us._ **

**_I'm sorry._ **

**_RA_ **

She stared at the letter for a few seconds before getting interrupted by the opening door. Instinctively she hid it under some journals on the desk and pretended to look at something on her phone.  
The door opened, allowing a tall bluenette to emerge into the room. She seemed to be carrying a large tray, but her initial movements suggested that she didn't want to be loud. She glanced over the bed and to her surprise did not find her friend in it, and upon wider inspection found her sitting in the chair by the desk.  
"Shit..."

"Heeey..." she dragged out, wondering and staring at the tray, "Is that what I think it is?"

Chloe's tone was slightly awkward, "Uuh... If you think it's my 'thank you' surprise breakfast-in-bed then yeah..."  
It wasn't in her usual fashion to make gestures like this, but this time she strongly felt like she needed to do at least _something_ , despite her friend proving that she wasn't angry or blaming her. Naturally, Chloe wanted some kind of acceptance on her part.

"Wow." Rachel reacted, "-Wait." She quickly got up from the chair and almost jumped on the bed, pulling the pillow up to her back so she could lean on it as her face lit up with a wide smile.  
"There. Let's have breakfast in bed!" she announced chuckling and spreading her hands to a welcoming gesture.

Chloe grinned at her friend's playful response. It seemed to have dissipated her initial awkwardness. She carefully brought the tray over and scooted close to the blonde, putting it on their laps.  
The tray hosted a large pile of pancakes, two coffees, strawberry jam and a syrup and the scent of it all was mesmerizing. Though the joy Chloe felt wasn't due to the smell or the anticipation of sating her hunger.  
Her friend lively started consuming the food, oblivious to the fact that Chloe was actually stalling. There was something she noticed about the blonde's smile and the way she moved - something she revealed only when they were together, in moments like this. That deeply soothing form of beauty, a peaceful and relaxing feeling of safety and genuine comfort.

"Mmm, these are _too_ good. Did _Joyce_ make them?"

She didn't touch the food yet. She took her time to savour the moment - seeing her friend happy was making her truly happy herself. It was one of the very few things in her life that did so, if not the only one. The blonde's teasing comment did not induce a reaction other than keeping up a smile and her look of admiration.

A pancake later Rachel finally took note of her friend's actions, or rather the lack of them. Still smiling, she looked back at her and asked with a brisk joyful voice, "What?"

Dreamy, Chloe warmly responded, "I wish I could make this moment last forever..."

Confident and light with her words, the smiling girl casually observed, "We don't need to. We'll have a lot more of these."

Such reassurance left Chloe feeling even more happy and hopeful than before. If not for the tray, she'd squeeze the life out of the blonde with a hug. A simple wrap of one hand around the waist and a snuggle had to do.  
"Rachel, I am **so** happy to have you in my life. You always know what to say and you are always there for me. I can't thank you enough for what you did."

She smirked, "-Well. This breakfast is a great start." and gently brushed against her shoulder, slightly tickling her with her hair.  
After a few joyful moments, Chloe felt a playful nudge from her friend.  
"Now are you just gonna let me eat the rest?"

"Not a chance." the punk nudged back.

The girls feasted on the pancakes, frisky nudging each other and exchanging smiles. Before they finished however, they were interrupted by a buzz from Rachel's phone on the desk, which she _just had to_ check.

"Are you really gonna leave me all this tasty goodness?" Chloe wondered with a smile, faking disappointment.

"Hey _I_ have places to be unlike _some_." the blonde quipped, wiping her hands and checking her phone on the desk.

She froze for a moment as she read the text, though it didn't look out of the ordinary to Chloe. She continued to watch her friend with a half-eaten pancake roll in her hand as the girl took her time to respond.  
...though the silence didn't last long - Chloe's curiosity took over quickly.  
"Who's not letting you chill on a freakin' Sunday?"

Her friend did not really pay attention to the question - she focused on texting on her phone. Only a few seconds later she reacted with a question of her own, "...Mmm..Can you check if my black tee and jean shorts are still in your closet?"

"Sure." She got up from the bed to check, slightly suspicious but mostly unsure of the reason behind such request.  
"Dressing up for your mysterious lover, huh?"

"Stahp."

Chloe smirked at her response, "Yup, they're all here."  
Turning around, she looked over her friend, who instead of texting was now spacing out at the window.  
"Don't tell me you have to leave." she said with a hint of lighthearted sadness, though it seemed like Rachel didn't hear her.  
Approaching closer, the punk snapped her blue nailed fingers, "Hey. Earth calls to Rachel. Come in.", successfully drawing her attention back.  
"What's up? Everything okay?"

Rachel groaned, "Yeah, just have to... go. Ugh."

Miffed, Chloe expressed it with a trademarked 'This is such bullshit' voice of her own creation, " _Really?_ You're barely awake and already have to go? On a Sunday?"

The blonde sighed, "Chloe, trust me, it's the last thing I wanna do. If I could, I'd spend my entire day with you."

"Maaaaaaaaan..." she continued as her face changed to show defeated understanding, " _I know._ It just sucks that you have so many responsibilities."

"Well _you_ have none so I need to compensate." Rachel smirked, folding the plaid shirt she left on the chair last night.

Chloe smirked back, "No you don't."  
She plopped back down on the bed almost knocking tray over as her friend picked up her jeans and brought them over to the closet.  
"Let's just run away. Right now. We'll have aaaallllll the time in the world together." She spread her arms widely to emphasize her words, lazily leaving them on the bed. Her voice was getting dreamy again.

Rachel sighed, "I can't do that. _You know_ I can't.", sounding just a tad more serious than expected.  
She put her clothes into the closet, then took out the ones she needed and quickly put them on.

Chloe voice reverted to its normal tone, "Yeah, I know. I wasn't being serious. But we will, right?"  
She devoured the pancake half-roll from before, still leaving a few more on the plate just in case Rachel decides to stay for a while longer.

"Yea." the blonde responded, not really showing much enthusiasm. She was dressed and pretty much ready to leave at this point.  
"I'll uh... text you later I guess, though I don't know if I'll even have free time today... Sorry..."

"Don't worry Rach, that's more pancakes for me." Chloe winked, rolling up another one.  
"Seriously though, it's okay. Go on."

She could see her flash a half-smile in response, then turn and disappear behind the door. Her muffled steps on the stairs eventually made themselves completely silent, making Chloe let out a light sigh. Shortly after, the light breeze carried the sounds of the closing front door through the open window as her friend completely left the house.

"Heeey..."

_Are those pancakes?_

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Uuh... If you think it's my 'thank you' surprise breakfast-in-bed then yeah..."

"Wow."

_Holy shit Chloe, this is amazing! ...Is that a blush on your face?_

"-Wait... There. Lets have breakfast in bed!"

_She got up early to make me a surprise breakfast. That's sooooo nice. The coffee and pancakes and everything... and that smell.._   
_..._   
_And they taste great! Wow..._

"Mmm, these are _too_ good. Did _Joyce_ make them?"

_This is like the best thing ever... I think I'm getting too excited over pancakes._   
_But she clearly put a lot of effort into this. Wow. I guess she's_ _**really** _ _thankful for the save..._   
_But she doesn't need to thank me, I simply couldn't have acted any other way. She knows that, right?_   
_Wait. Why isn't she eating?_

"What?"

"I wish I could make this moment last forever..."

"We don't need to. We'll have a lot more of these."

_I hope._

Rachel felt Chloe's hand run around her waist and tighten, snuggling them together. It wasn't fully expected, but certainly felt cozy and comforting. Happy even, loving. It slightly caught her off guard.

"Rachel, I am **so** happy to have you in my life. You always know what to say and you are always there for me. I can't thank you enough for what you did."

_Do I really mean so much to you? How..-? I..._   
_Don't ruin it, Rachel. Say something._

"-Well. This breakfast is a great start."

_Shit. Please don't take this the wrong way. Safety nudge._

"Now are you just gonna let me eat the rest?"

"Not a chance."

_Phew. Wow... She looks so happy... She_ _**is** _ _happy. Truly. Is it because of me? Has to be, right? Am I just being oblivious?.._   
_She really isn't taking me for granted. Us. Like I have..._   
_**Us...** _ _I'm being so unfair to her. She's gonna find that letter, then what?_

Bzzzzt!

_Ughh, I need to check that._

"Are you really gonna leave me all this tasty goodness?"

"Hey _I_ have places to be unlike _some_."

[NATHAN: you awake yet? im done and ready]

_Fuck, I forgot about this completely. Fucking Nathan..._

[RACHEL: Yes.]  
[RACHEL: Now?]  
[NATHAN: now like u promised. where should i pick u up?]  
[RACHEL: Know the store at the end of Cedar?]  
[NATHAN: ye]  
[NATHAN: dont forget the clothes. be there in 10]

_Should probably tell Justin I won't be coming..._

[RACHEL: Hey, I can't make it today. Sorry.]  
[JUSTIN: DW]  
[JUSTIN: We're all too hungover now so we'll probably do it next weekend]  
[RACHEL: Lol ok.]

"Who's not letting you chill on a freakin' Sunday?"

_Fuck. If I leave now she's gonna find the letter and... fuck. She is so happy with me and..._   
_Instead of being a friend I'm gonna ruin her life by acting like a cowardly selfish bitch that leaves with a shitty goodbye letter. That's practically what it is, isn't it? "I'll give you some space"?_   
_**What the hell am I doing?** _ _I know_ _**exactly** _ _how much it's going to hurt her. To her this is Maxine all over again!_

"...Mmm..Can you check if my black tee and jean shorts are still in your closet?"

"Sure."

With a corner of her eye Rachel focused on watching Chloe get up from the bed and head for the closet until she turned her attention to the clothes inside. Naturally, she was unable to see the blonde as the closet was on the opposite side from the window.

"Dressing up for your mysterious lover, huh?"

"Stahp."

She took this opportunity to swiftly slide the letter out from under the journals and quickly but silently scrunched it into a ball and threw it out the window.

_Fuck. That._   
_I'm gonna talk this through with her. No one will be left alone. We'll come up with something,_ _**together.** _   
_I'll find a way to make her understand... tell her the truth? Or a part of it? No... How can I even explain? 'Hey, my boyfriend kidnaps people and I was one of them, but I'm not mad and we're in love. Now I'm gonna stay in Arcadia and help him kidnap more people and you're staying with me for comic relief.'_   
_What a sick fucking joke. Good job, Rachel. You're gonna fuck her life up even more than you already have._

Snap!  
"Hey. Earth calls to Rachel. Come in."  
"What's up? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just have to... go. Ugh."

" _Really?_ You're barely awake and already have to go? On a Sunday?"

_I know and I'd love to stay, but that's the price of getting you out._

"Chloe, trust me, it's the last thing I wanna do. If I could, I'd spend my entire day with you."

_Ha. The Price._

"Maaaaaaaaan..."  
" _I know_. It just sucks that you have so many responsibilities."

"Well _you_ have none so I need to compensate."

"No you don't."

_I wish._

"Let's just run away. Right now. We'll have aaaallllll the time in the world together."

_Chloe, please..._

"I can't do that. _You know_ I can't."

"Yeah, I know. I wasn't being serious. But we will, right?"

_God I wish I didn't have to lie to you._

"Yea."  
 _How can I tell you the truth?_  
"I'll uh..."  
 _What should I say?_ _ **How**_ _should I say it?_  
"...text you later I guess, though I don't know if I'll even have free time today..."  
 _Another lie._ _ **Fuck.**_ _I'm so..._  
"Sorry..."

"Don't worry Rach, that's more pancakes for me."  
"Seriously though, it's okay. Go on."

Briefly smiling at Chloe's supportive behaviour Rachel turned to leave the room and then eventually the house. Her pace wasn't too brisk as she headed downstairs - she wanted to stay, but the outside was nice enough to suppress most of her initial reluctance.  
Walking down the street, she felt a nice soft breeze gently stroke her skin, bringing a hint of summer with the fresh smell of late spring. There were barely any clouds in the sky - what could be seen around the blinding disk was deeply blue and calm, much like the distant azure ocean that sometimes showed its small fluffy crests, surrounded by the lush conifer forests and the tender sands of the beach, though the farthest features of nature were slightly obscured by a light blue morning haze.

Nathan's truck was already there by the time Rachel reached the store. She got inside as he was doing something on his phone. He seemed rather normal - not on edge from worrying like she expected and not overly excited for anything either.  
As she sat by, Nathan quickly eyed her to assess her appearance and his face expressed a glimpse of satisfaction. "Hey."

"Hey." she closed the door and buckled up. Lingering for a bit, she somewhat meekly looked at him and asked, "How did it go?"

He pocketed the phone and turned the keys, starting up the engine. "Smooth."

"Is she okay?" the girl wondered, revealing a bit of concern in her voice.

"Yeah. She's with whatsherface the indian chick... She actually helped me carry her over to her room. Heh."  
He seemed to be in a fairly good mood, despite probably feeling tired after everything. His truck gained some speed as he pulled it into the driveway.

"And Mark? Did he say anything?" she continued questioning with curiosity.

Nathan's eyes shifted slightly as he thought of an appropriate answer, "He's uh... disappointed. Not angry though. Probably waiting for you to reach out."  
"... he didn't ask me to pass you any messages. You shouldn't either. I'm not getting involved."

" _Yes._ I know. You've made it clear enough already." Rachel said with a bit of irritation.

"Good." he said lightly.  
Nathan fell silent for a minute, even though there wasn't much to focus on - not much traffic in Arcadia Bay.  
Rachel wasn't sure why, but it was apparent that he was interested in speaking more, or rather answering more questions - or just being friendly in general?

After the said minute of silence he started talking again, "...So maybe this shoot will help us both then. What do you think?"

"Yeah, you're probably right..." Rachel distantly agreed.  
Looking over the faraway blue waves of the ocean they briefly drove past, she wondered, "Where are we going anyway?"

"The junkyard." he casually responded, eyes on the road as he turned the truck, following a familiar route again.

"Hm. Interesting."  
She could see how such scenery could benefit Nathan's style. And the theme. And even her clothes. And it would probably be an outstanding addition to a portfolio, assuming the pictures are meant to be shared with more people than one.

"Told you you would like it." he smiled to himself.

"So what do you have in mind?" she asked, somewhat interested in his plans now, though she doubted that she'd get to pose by herself much.

"Well... I kinda need you to be unconscious for this one."

"I figured as much." she sighed, "Don't bother explaining the rest, no point anyway."

He eyed her, noticing that she looked somewhat distant, "Hey, cheer up. What's with you?"

"Since when do _you_ care?" Rachel dismissively questioned.

"Jeez.." he rolled his eyes. "...You know, I always care. You're just too oblivious to notice."

She scoffed lightly, "Notice what? Your crush on me?"

"Don't fucking mock me." he frowned and turned his attention back to the road, falling silent again.

About half a minute later, Rachel glanced at him and sighed, "...Sorry."

Nathan let out a short sigh of annoyance, "Whatever."  
"I'm long past that shit. But that doesn't mean I don't care."

"Didn't look like you cared much yesterday." she observed, trying not to sound bitchy.

"You pissed me off, that's on you."  
He paused for a moment, then continued with a mild tone, "But I probably would have helped on a better day."

"Well... You seem really calm _now._ " she noted as the truck stopped at the end of the dirt road.

Nathan cut the engine, but stayed in his seat. He looked at her with a somewhat understanding expression and explained, "Look, I'm not gonna make you do this if you don't want to. I think what I did with Kelly was enough to make Jefferson trust me again, and when I told him about this shoot-"

"You told him?" she interrupted.

"... Yeah. I explained the idea and he actually seemed to like it." Nathan shrugged, "But I could tell that he really wanted **you** to participate. I don't think that I need to prove anything to him anymore. But now he probably thinks that you do. I can help. Your decision."

Rachel briefly looked over the rusty junkyard for a moment, doing a small tilted half-nod, then blinked as she did a full one and somewhat lightly agreed, "Yeah.. yeah, lets do it then."

"Great."  
He reached behind his seat to grab his camera and a small metal box as the girl got out of the red truck, closing the door.

Nathan got out as well, letting her look over the junkyard again in the meantime with her artistic mindset on, spotting an interesting looking crimson carcass of a boat with a few aged metal sheets forming a good opportunity for a posed shot.  
"I could pose for you over there first." she pointed at the spot, "Seems like a good place, unless you already have a plan."

"I do actually." he responded, not really paying attention to that place. He put the box on the hood of his car and opened it, "He left me some leftovers after the night... should be enough for us..."

"Us? How are you going to take pictures if you're high?" she questioned, folding her arms on her chest.

"Relax. It's just a bit to get through the day. I didn't sleep, remember? Besides, this wouldn't be my first high shoot."  
He took out a syringe and fidgeted with a small vial a bit, then proceeded to inject the drug into his arm.  
"...There. Much better." he grinned.

Rachel only stood beside with a somewhat judgmental look.

He did the same thing to another syringe without injecting, pocketed it, then closed the box and threw it back into the car. Closing the door, he reached over to the truck's bed and pulled out a tripod.  
"Let's go to the spot first. Don't feel like carrying you over."

"What a gentleman." the blonde dismissively observed with a lightly displeased tone, but followed him all the same.  
"Just don't drive before you come down." she added on the way.  
"...Actually, can you take me to your place after we're done? Don't wanna risk Madsen seeing me all fucked up and screaming drugs."

"Yeah, sure. Good idea." Nathan nodded, setting the tripod down once they reached the planned spot. The girl sat on some wreck beside and watched him - he looked like he was going to take off his orange jacket, but decided to leave it on as his thoughts reached a point of interest.  
"That reminds me. Did your friend get out alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine." she lightly responded, then somewhat distantly added, "Thanks..."

Twiddling with the camera until it flickered a red light, he continued, "She's the punk chick that always follows you around, right? Chloe?"

Rachel smirked, "That's her. Why do you ask?"

Nathan scratched behind his head as setting up the camera felt a little more complicated than usual. Looking through the eyepiece, he wondered, "Think she'd be interested in a shoot?"

Pausing for a "Hmm..." she shrugged, "I don't know. Never even thought of her this way."  
"I'll ask though. We can probably do something this week, she's got a lot of free time."

"Cool."  
He finished the setup and turned his full attention back to Rachel, taking the syringe out of his pocket, to which she responded by extending her hand.

"Not _this_ kind of shoot though." she said sarcastically, slightly wincing at the light sting.


End file.
